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McArthur River

River in Northern Territory, Australia

Summary

River in Northern Territory, Australia

Field	Value
name	McArthur
name_etymology	James McArthur
image	McArthur River.jpg
image_caption	McArthur River at Borroloola, 2011
map_size	250
pushpin_map	Australia Northern Territory
pushpin_map_size	250
pushpin_map_caption	Location in Northern Territory, Australia
subdivision_type1	Country
subdivision_name1	Australia
subdivision_type2	Territory
subdivision_name2	Northern Territory
subdivision_type3	Region
subdivision_name3	Katherine Region
length	521 km
discharge1_avg	103.6 m3/s
source1	Barkly Tableland
source1_location	east of
source1_elevation	234 m
mouth	Gulf of Carpentaria
mouth_location	east of
mouth_coordinates
mouth_elevation	0 m
basin_size	20010 km2
extra

the McArthur River, Northern Territory, Australia

The McArthur River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia which flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria at Port McArthur, opposite the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands. The river was named by Ludwig Leichhardt while he explored the area in 1845. He named the River after James MacArthur and the MacArthur family of Camden, who were enthusiastic supporters of his expedition. The McArthur River has significance for the local Aboriginal communities, who use it for fishing and other traditional activities.

Description

The McArthur River basin covers 20,010 km2. The basin is situated between the Rosie River catchment to the north, the Limmen Bight River to the east, the Barkly River catchment to the south and the Robinson River catchment to the west. The mean annual runoff is 3,270,000 ML per year. The headwaters of the rivers rise on the northern edge of the Barkly Tableland. Tributaries of the McArthur River include Tooganginie Creek, and the Kilgour and Clyde rivers.

The river has a long tidal estuary which extends inland to the town of Borroloola. The estuary is in near-pristine condition, and forms part of the Port McArthur Tidal Wetlands System Important Bird Area.

McArthur River zinc mine expansion

In 2007, plans to expand the McArthur River zinc mine, one of the world's largest zinc mines, were halted by a decision of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. It was found that the approval of the expansion by Mines Minister Chris Natt was invalid. Traditional owners were concerned the proposal, which included a 5.5 km river diversion, had serious, long term and irreversible impacts.

In 2008, the case was heard by the Federal Court, which found that the expansion was illegal. In early 2009, the Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett formally approved the mine's expansion. Garrett placed conditions on the project which aimed to reduce the impact on the freshwater sawfish and migratory birds.

References

"Map of McArthur River, NT". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia.
(8 February 2004). "Borroloola". Fairfax Media.
"Place Names Register Extract - Mcarthur River River". [[Northern Territory Government]].
(20 February 2009). "Garrett approves MRM zinc mine expansion". Fairfax Media.
(6 May 2009). "Landscape - carbon, nutrients, water and productivity - McArthur River". Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
(2005). "Drainage Divisions". [[Commonwealth of Australia]].
(13 May 2009). "Water resources - Availability - Northern Territory". Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
(20 June 2009). "Estuary Assessment 2000: Basin: McArthur River". Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
"BirdLife International - conserving the world's birds".
(30 April 2007). "McArthur River mine expansion 'invalid'". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"Current Campaigns » Mining » McArthur River". The Environment Centre of the Northern Territory.
(18 December 2008). "Territory Govt seeks action on McArthur River Mine". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
(20 February 2009). "McArthur River Mine expansion gets green light". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

rivers-of-the-northern-territory gulf-of-carpentaria

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